### 6.1 Understanding how to assign formats

You can assign output formats to elements based on any of the following:

- @outputclass; see §6.3 Mapping outputclass attribute values to formats
- element position in the DITA topic hierarchy; see §6.4 Mapping element paths to output formats
- attribute values; see §6.5 Mapping element attributes to output formats.

Failing all of these, DITA2Go takes the element name itself as the format name, unless you have explicitly disabled this option (see §6.2 Specifying options for naming formats). In that event, the element gets the default format for its element type; see §11.2 Specifying properties of element types.

DITA2Go looks for a definition of the assigned output format in the Formats template chain; see §7.2 Working with format configuration files:

- To define an output format, see §7. Configuring output formats.
- To specify format styling, see §8. Configuring format components.
- To change the language of predefined text used in a format, see §8.10 Localizing output headings, labels, and names.

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Next Topic: 6.2 Specifying options for naming formats

Parent Topic: 6. Mapping elements to output formats

Sibling Topics:

6.2 Specifying options for naming formats

6.3 Mapping outputclass attribute values to formats

6.4 Mapping element paths to output formats

6.5 Mapping element attributes to output formats

6.6 Specifying formats for cross references

6.7 Specifying formats for footnotes

6.8 Specifying options for figures

6.9 Specifying formats and options for tables

6.10 Specifying options for special lists

6.11 Specifying options for draft comments

6.12 Specifying options for maps

6.13 Deciding where to display title and shortdesc